News
Local

Guelph farm policy think-tank closing after 25 years

A Guelph-based farm policy think-tank — the brainchild of a Chatham-area farmer — is closing, in part because of the growth of research groups such as Agri-food @ Ivey in London.

The George Morris Centre, known for its work on agriculture policies and economics, intends to dissolve this year and direct its remaining assets to the University of Guelph.

Managing director John F.T. Scott said the centre was unique when it was founded 25 years ago but there are now at least three other ag-policy research groups in Canada, including Agri-food @ Ivey in London.

“The George Morris Centre started to become a smaller player in what was a crowded field,” Scott said.

It competed with those other centres for research money and directors began examining its future about seven months ago. The announcement of its closing came late last week.

Although the centre had endured a couple of years of losses, it was still viable, Scott said.

“We’re just trying to do the right thing with the remaining assets.”

Dave Sparling, who heads Agri-Food @ Ivey at Western University, said George Morris Centre did important work to track and shape agriculture policy.

“They’ve had some great people” and its dissolution is disappointing, Sparling said.

“Policy research takes a lot of money,” he said, and that’s why such research often takes place inside an institution attached to an academic institution.